Can Virtual Reality Save Porn? (re/code)

A popular media magazine asks if the future of a struggling porn industry lies in virtual reality, and features a video interview with the founder of one of the first vr porn paysites.

Startups such as VRTube and VirtualRealPorn are gung-ho about the VR future, focusing all their energies on getting out in front of the upcoming market. At the same time, bigger and more established porn companies such as NaughtyAmerica and Vivid are cautiously exploring it, partnering with outside studios to produce experimental films while also trying not to undermine their existing brands.

Nearly all involved say VR porn is just better, because it feels more like a real experience than watching someone on a 2-D screen. “There’s so much more that people want,” Darling said. “They want a human experience. They want something that helps fight the loneliness in their lives. They don’t just need to jizz, they need to connect with someone.”

What will enhance the experience all the more, industry insiders say, is the emerging field of “teledildonics.” These high-end sex toys connect wirelessly to phones and computers and sync up with the action in videos playing on them, simulating the feeling of actual sex.

“There’s a fantasy there of a connection with an actor, but it’s not real,” sex addiction therapist Bill Bercaw said. “When you factor in VR porn with teledildonics, now not only are you in the room with your favorite porn star, not only are you in the bed with your favorite porn star, you’re getting a real blowjob from your favorite porn star.”

The companies that produce porn are trying to make the case that seeing, hearing and (with teledildonics) feeling like you’re really there will reignite users’ willingness to open their wallets.